Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou (5 July 1911 – 2 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously was Prime Minister of France from 1962 to 1968—the longest tenure in the position's history. He had long been a top aide to President Charles de Gaulle. Pompidou was elected President of France in 1969. As head of state, he was a moderate conservative who repaired France's relationship with the United States and maintained positive relations with the newly independent former colonies in Africa. He strengthened his political party, the Union of Democrats for the Republic ("Union des démocrates pour la République" or UDR), to make it a bastion of the Gaullist movement.Pompidou died in office in 1974. His presidency is generally held in high esteem by French political commentators. ... Source: Article "Georges Pompidou" from Wikipedia in english, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.